


First Blight: the Untold Tale of the First Wardens

by andrasteshaircurlers



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Ancient Greece & Rome, Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Tevinter Imperium, Ancient Devices, Ancient Technology, Anderfels, Battle, Blight, Blood Mages, Blood Magic, Elf Culture & Customs, Epic Battles, Epic Love, F/M, First Blight, Gen, Grey Warden Joining, Grey Warden Secrets, Grey Wardens, Mages, Multi, Other, Tevinter Culture and Customs, Tevinter Imperium, Tevinters, The Blight (Dragon Age), poc leads, poc woman
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-21
Updated: 2016-08-21
Packaged: 2018-08-10 01:28:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7824895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andrasteshaircurlers/pseuds/andrasteshaircurlers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“History is written by the winners, unless it is not written at all.” </p><p>I have heard the saying many times. But I have the foresight to see that even the winner’s story will be lost.<br/>New doctrine glistens just beyond the horizon.<br/>Now, I am the mother of Wardens, and by the time this lands in your possession, I will be an inconvenience with my truth twisted into a matter of a docile, less threatening, lie.<br/>Carinus is gone… The Blight is over.<br/>But our creation, The Grey Wardens, continue.<br/>Let them know of where they came from.<br/>Tell at least some of them of the blood, sweat, and tears that brought them to where they are today.<br/>Let us be real to them in the way only stories can be.<br/>I leave the true story to them.<br/>The true story... of what will like as be only the first Blight.</p><p>- From a journal given to your Warden-Commander after being sworn to secrecy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	First Blight: the Untold Tale of the First Wardens

The Tevinter call it the Verdis, the giant mass of tropical forest that marked the edge of the world. It was a stark contrast with the arid land of the weathered pass next to it. Seeming almost as if someone had drawn a giant line in the earth to indicate where the climate should switch.

The Yothandi people of the reconquered Yothlands, once the Anderfels, knew not to try to enter that forest.

The Tevene, as with all things, had thought they were better than that. An entire Imperial Drakon of men had been sent into it’s dark and humid depths.

Two returned.

The first died before he could testify before the Magisterium. The second wove a tale of horror, of a land that seemed more than determined to kill them. Strange beasts and man eating plants.

No one entered the Verdis.

No one left.

Except for now.

 

The girl child that stumbled from the treeline, sweat dodging her dark skin, looked as if she was focusing on just holding herself together. She was clearly neither Yothandi or Tevene.

She was small. Almost impossibly small for a human Her eyes nearly almond shaped. her hair was done up in many little braids and pulled back. Her skirt was made of hammered bark. Her only weapon was a knife of bone strapped to her waist with a pouch.

The child’s eyes were wide and full of wonder, like a kitten first seeing the sky. Then her brows lowered, her lips pressed together in a tight line. And the child took a step forward away from the treeline.

The darkspawn was a straggler from his group, and that happened from time to time. The Wandering Hills seemed to have a mind of their own, and anyone who traveled through them risked finding themselves hopelessly lost or separated from their traveling companions. Darkspawn included.

The forest however, for all of its special magic, seemed impervious to darkspawn and their corruption. Unwilling even to let them in to be destroyed.

 

The Weathered Pass was a barren wasteland. No resources and no source of food or water to be found within it. But darkspawn did not need either of those. Of course, there was nothing to corrupt or destroy either… until now.

The Hurlock saw the girl before she saw it, while she was still taking slow tentative steps forward, with one hand shielding her face from the scorching sun.

It roared.

The girl froze as she saw the creature. The terror in her eyes made it clear this was the first time she had seen one of those bloodstained, inhuman monsters. No one forgot their first time seeing a darkspawn.

The child’s hand went to her dagger.

The darkspawn drew his greatsword with both hands, laughing as he held it before him.

Then the girl held out her arm. The underside of the child's arm was a mass of cut marks. Some light, some deeper. As the darkspawn charged she reopened one.

Bright red blood flowed over the child’s arm, dripping to pool on the ground. or a long moment nothing happened. The child’s brows knit together as she watched the darkspawn continue to advance.

  then just as the creature reached her it was thrown backwards with explosive force.

The darkspawn got to its feet, roaring out with its displeasure and charged again. The girl’s brows rose and it was thrown back again as she made another cut.

As the darkspawn threw a blade at her in pure frustration, a gash formed on the side of the girl’s cheek. She did not even seem to notice the injury. A moment later the reason why was made clear; a giant hovering boulder crashed onto the darkspawn, crushing it alive.

The girl fell to the ground, pale faced and sweating from exertion, staring at the place where the darkspawn had been. And then she squared her shoulders, stood up… and walked off.

 

 

 

**In the year 800 TE or -395 Ancient the most powerful magister lords of the mighty Tevinter Imperium opened a gate to the heart of the fade and were corrupted. They were cast out, cursed to bear the taint and spread it. They become the first darkspawn and when the Old God Dumat was transformed into the first archdemon the event known to history as the First Blight began.**

**First to be hit were the dwarven kingdoms, and within fifteen years, in 815 TE, or 380 Ancient they began to fall. Every dwarven noble house wished to have their own house defended. The assembly was so caught up by arguments that darkspawn reached the gates of the dwarven capital Orzammar unchecked. Aeducan of the warrior caste grudgingly took command of the armies while enlisting aid from the miner and smith castes. Orzammar was saved and Aeducan made a Paragon.**

**Though Orzammar was saved, within fifty years every outer thaig and all but the four greatest dwarven kingdoms - Orzammar, Kal-Sharock, Hormak, And Gundaar - had fallen. These surviving kingdoms lived only by cooperation and abandoning most of the deep roads.**

**The darkspawn could travel quickly all over Thedas using the roads abandoned to them beneath the ground. All of the Imperium fell under siege and into a state of chaos until finally the nations of the Imperium settled in for a long war and become used to surges of darkspawn. Or as used to as they could be to the spawn of darkness nibbling at their empire.**

**The people of Tevinter prayed to the remaining Old Gods but received only silence. Many temples were destroyed and the people started to turn from the Old Gods.**

**In the Imperium, as the situation of the Blight started to grow darker, there was a short period of backlash against the Altus mage class who comprised most of the mages that opened the gate to the fade. For a short period of time, the Laetan class received higher status. This state, however, lasted for a short period of time before the Altus regained their dominance. Due to the chaos in the world, however, news traveled slowly. A Laetan mage who occupied  an important position in the Yothlands, once the Anderfels, might not hear the news until it was too late, for example. If not for him... then perhaps for his son?**

 

Promagister Carus Provincias of the Yothlands was not impressed by the polished white steps that led up to the meeting quarters of the Archon. For all that they were ornate and fancy, Carus was used to real stonework. The kind that came from the skilled hands of the savages he tried to govern. Or at least, they would be producing it if they were not busy dying.

He swept up the long shallow staircase with the air of a man of importance, a man used to being in command. His black tunic danced gently by his olive skinned body. His grey- streaked hair neatly trimmed not a strand out of place. He did not look like a man who had come thousands of miles.

The atrium was exquisite, its sides lined with marvels from all over the Imperium. Skulls of creatures he did not even know, woodwork from the barbarians of the far south, a black pearl the size of his hand. It was intended to impress, and it did. But not enough to put a chink in Carus’ confidence.

The Archon was adorned in the ancient regalia of the ruler of Tevinter: the golden runed crown and the Ferryman's staff. And he looked at Carus as if he was a bug.

Carus could feel his insides clench. How dare he. If anyone was an insect it was this man. This man who was descended from the very class that had started this mess. The Archon was an Altus. Carus knew that everyone hated the Altus. The Altus had brought this Blight onto them. The Altus was the reason The Yothandi were dying.

“Promagister Carnus of the Yothlands Province. You were instructed to administrate your province for the good of the Imperium, and now abandon your post. I ask you why.”

If there was one thing Carus could not stand it was being talked down to. He could handle it for a little while, he had handled it working his way up the ranks to gain his position, but he would not handle it coming from an Altus who had somehow managed to become Archon.

“The number of men we have is hopeless to fight the growing horde. And we are dying.” He spoke the words accusatively. How dare this man stand here before him as though he could judge him for coming. How dare. “I demand you send more men to help us fight the growing menace. I demand…”

“You demand!” The Archon’s eyes flashed.

“Yes I demand! My lands, My wife’s village is about to be attacked!” Instantly Carus knew he had made a mistake. There was something in the Archon’s eye something that chilled him to the bone.

“You, Carus, are Laetan and yet you would demand something of me? Perhaps when you were appointed that was how things worked here but not anymore, you really should learn which way the winds have turned before you speak.”

“I just need the winds to turn against the darkspawn” Carus told the man desperate to save the situation.

“I will give you your men.”

For a moment he felt a sense of relief. “You will?”

“Your son… is about the graduate from one of my military academies, is he not?” The Archon asked.

“No!”

The Archon rounded on him, eyes hard. “You are willing to sacrifice our men in your doomed attempt to save your lands and yet you will not sacrifice your own? All of Tevinter are my children just as all of those under your care should be yours. Your son will be in this battle you so desperately seek. Your must learn a lesson for your pride if you wish to continue to serve this Imperium.” The Altus turned away, his back to Carus.

I could strike him down right here, Carus thought to himself. Shoot some lightning up his spine… And yet for some reason, whatever reason, he did not. Instead backing up slowly until he had exited the room.

 

Carinus Provincias, Son of Carus, let out a whoop as he lept out of the water of the baths of Minrathous to wrap a hand around the ankle of his friend Issli and yank him roughly into the water.

Issli, the large Rivaini, who had been preoccupied flirting with Yesha, flailed dramatically before falling back into the water with a tremendous splash. Yesha herself let out a yelp and instinctively threw aside the towel covering her waterclothing in time to avoid it being soaked.

The three of them earned some particularly icy glares from the other more taciturn bathers for their lack of decorum. But the truth was, Carinus really did not care. He looked at his friends a large goofy grin spread over his tan face.

The truth was the three of them could not be more different.

 Issli was large, heavy set, with a shaved head, a friendly face and warm brown eyes. To be honest, he looked more like he belonged in heavy armor with a maul than as a member of the arcane legion, but any who said so had obviously never seen him work one of his entropy spells. Or call on the fade to aid his allies in battle. Yesha was a small, pale woman with a pointy face and copper hair pulled back into a ponytail. Her lightning spells were the talk of the academy. Carinus himself was a moderately sized young man, whiskerless with his black-brown hair pulled back he had inherited the dark blue eyes of his Yothandi mother and a slightly lighter shade of the dark Tevinter complexion of his father. He himself was known for his barrier spells and work with spirit blades.

All three of them of course knew how to fight in armor and march in line. All three knew how to enchant their own combat weapons for maximum devastation. They were how the Tevinter empire had spread so far. It's infantry of elitely-trained mages that were also warriors. And now they were finally graduated and ready to fight the horde that was plaguing their nation.

 

Yesha stood up from the ornate dragon clawed bench where she had been sitting spreading her toned arms wide as she looked down at her soaking swim clothes. "Carinus!"

"What?" he grinned at her. "I thought you came here to get wet I just helped you on a little."

Issli grabbed at his head in one massive hand and attempted to dunk him as Carinus danced out of the way. "I believe I was busy talking to the lady!"

Carinus shot him a wider grin. "Oh I know you two do more than talk."

There was a whoop and a massive splash as Yesha jumped into the water curled into a ball. The glares they were getting were positively lethal now. She managed to hook a leg under Carinus' and send him plunging into the water. As he came up she was grinning at him. "Oh I'm sorry did I trip you?”

Issli leaned back against the edge of the baths his massive frame spreading leisurely against the pale bluish white of the tiles "We made it. Nine years. Nine years of training. There were some days when I thought I would get wrinkles before I saw real battle."

“Gloria Imperium! Gloriam, sed sunt nobis!” Yesha let out another whoop.

"You know I hear the darkspawn EAT couples." Carinus teased. None of them had any doubt as to what they would be sent up against the only question was where. And Carinus had not gotten tired of teasing his friends since he walked in on them kissing a week ago.

Yesha made a rude gesture at him while Issli grinned. "Have you seen me? I think I might give them indigestion!”

Yesha's bow wrinkled. "Do darkspawn get indigestion?"

"Of course they do," Carinus told her nonchalantly "We covered that one one of the days when you were busy out shocking things."

"You're making that up!" Yesha looked in between them while Issli shook his head. "My lips are sealed.”

“You're making that up! This is going to bother me for the rest of my life now!" Yesha threw herself on top of Carinus just as one of the bath attendants came over scowling.

"OUT!" She pointed at the exit.

 The sights and smells of Minrathous engulfed them as they walked down on the street of meals licking sticky sweet date juices from their handheld pastries off their fingers. It was said that every type of food in the Imperium was sold here. Fish sauces made from scaled creatures all the way from Hircinia to the west. Flat breads made with unusual grains from the Phanasenia to the south west. Spices and mixed dishes that sometimes brought tears to the eyes from Rivain. He avoided those after having naively tried one on a dare once. In fact, the only type of food there was not much of was that of the wild Ciriane and his mother's people, the Yothandi.

"Where do you think we'll be going?" He spoke the question that hung in the air now that the initial elation of graduation had worn off slightly.

"Probably the latest surge." Yesha shrugged "Find the defensible places, evacuate the rest, kill darkspawn until they decide to try somewhere else. I don't really care where we go as long as we can prove ourselves."

"I wonder how they think." Carinus licked one of his fingers. "How they choose where and when to attack."

"I thought they were mindless. They are like beasts, it's said," Issli put in, taking a large bite out of his pastry.

"Beasts don't act like they do." Carinus shook his head. "Beasts are not capable of plain evil. Only people are."

Yesha groaned. "Does it really matter if we kill them? But while we are being all philosophical I should point out that there is no way that they reproduce at a normal rate. Not with the increase in frequency of attacks we have seen over the last few years. I've been tracking it.”

Issli nodded. "It seems to me they must be more demon than anything else."

"The problem is no one knows," Carinus growled unexpectedly before shaking his head as if to shake off a bad mood. "Let's go watch a light show.” He shot the other two a grin. "We still have time to celebrate tonight."

Somehow, in all his imagining, he had never expected their destination to be his home.

**Author's Note:**

> Betas:  
> http://archiveofourown.org/users/LavellanLove/pseuds/LavellanLove  
> https://archiveofourown.org/users/uncagingwardens/pseuds/uncagingwardens  
> http://archiveofourown.org/users/etaeternum/pseuds/etaeternum  
> http://archiveofourown.org/users/Replica_Jester/pseuds/Replica_Jester


End file.
